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It's been several years since I read about Germany's law enforcement agencies at all (except for a BBC article I found online the other day detailing conflicts with American and Russian intelligence agents in Berlin). I'd love to hear whatever you know!

I'll try…

And after all, it makes sense that German agencies know _something_ about the forces of the Mythos and the occult, doesn't it? After all, _some_ people in Germany should know about the activities of the Karotechia - especially their use of Zombies during the latter days of WWII. And many of the agents in the early days were simply recruited from the former Third Reich agencies - they simply couldn't get experienced manpower elsewhere!

And who knows what the former "Ministerium fuer Staatssicherheit" - the dreaded "Stasi" of former Eastern Germany might have known? After all, they had files on roughly one third (!) of all eastern Germans and innumerable informers hidden in the population. And while the Stasi doesn't exist anymore, their files still do for the most part (even if a few conveniently "vanished" right after the Wende), and are waiting for examination…

Well, I think that some notes on some of the German agencies that might come into contact with the forces of the occult and the Mythos might be in order…

(I've got the following from their web page, so take this with a grain of salt - especially for a Delta Green campaign!)

The "Bundesamt fuer Verfassungschutz", or "Verfassungsschutz" or "BfV" for short (roughly: "Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution" - kinda ironic if you consider that Germany these days doesn't have a constitution, but only a "provisionary" basic law…) is responsible for keeping an eye on any groups that might threaten democracy in Germany. It keeps a close look on both right-wing and left-wing extremist groups, as well as religious fanatics, like islamic fringe groups, and cultish organisations, like Scientology. They produce yearly reports on the current situation of these groups in Germany - the "Verfassungsschutzbericht" (I know few language that can produce long words as easily as German). The current one (of 1997) has chapters on, in that order, "left-wing extremist activities", "right-wing extremist activities", "security-threatening and extremist activities by foreigners", "espionage and related activities" (by foreign agencies - mostly Russian ones, but also some others, which are ranging from the Middle East to North Korea, and the report also has notes on what they want…), and the"Scientology Organization".

The Verfassungsschutz is one of the agencies founded after WWII to prevent another debacle like the Weimar Republic - the Weimar Republic had no effective weapons against extremism of all kind, so it was made sure by the German founders of the new state that the Federal Republic of Germany had lots of them.

The Verfassungsschutz may not arrest anyone, search houses, or confiscate objects. They basically gather information for the government (both on the state and the federal level) and the courts.

There are also local agencies - the "Landesbehoerden fuer Verfassungsschutz" - that work on a state-wide level instead of a federal one. They are not subordinate to the "Bundesbehoerde", but supposed to work together with them.

They usually gather their information from publically accessible sources, like newspapers, but in certain cases (mostly terrorism and espionage) they can be granted the power to intercept and read letters, as well as listen in on phone calls.

The "Bundesnachrichtendienst", or BND, (literal translation: "Federal News Service" - nice euphemism…) is basically Germany's espionage agency - responsible for spying in other countries. The public rarely hears something about them, which means that they are not doing much, or are doing what they are doing without leaving any evidence… Officially they've got 7500 employees, of which 6000 work at their central office, and the rest work "elsewhere"…

The "Militaerischer Abschirmdienst", or MAD, (lit.: "Military guarding/shielding agency") is even more mysterious - most Germans know next to nothing about them. It seems to have duties similar to those of the BND, but is possibly more of a military nature. But I'm just speculating here… It has less than 2000 employees, 25% of which are working at the central office, 50% in something that sunds like "special interest groups", and as for the other 25%…

Oh blast. I guess that, when I am coming home to Germany, I am going to look for some books on these agencies…

__

Relevant websites for those of you who can read German:

http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/ (Verfassungsschutz - BTW, they wrote that some Hacker recently "redecorated" their homepage a bit, but they pretend to take that in stride…)

And if either the BND or the MAD have homepages, I couldn't find them…

Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 16:05:21 -0500 (EST)
From: "Andrew D. Gable"

mostly Russian ones, but also some others, which are ranging from the Middle East to North Korea, and the report also has notes on what they want…), and the"Scientology Organization".

<Alarms go off>

Scientology…hmm.

Thanks for this factoid…this'll probably play a part in the connections btwn. Elron/JWP/Crowley, the Tuchulcha Mythos, and the Karotechia I was searching for…any thoughts on your part how to connect this organization to the Karotechia?

The "Militaerischer Abschirmdienst", or MAD

Hmm. Something like the NSA here in the states, I gather. If Germany has a Majestic-type project, it might be here.

In particular, I was impressed how little the legends of my home area had to do with the stereotypical "Disney"-style fairy tales, and how many of them are useful for Mythos-like stories - man-shaped beings made out of fire, mysterious entities in lakes, even little grey men! And the list goes on…

Even the Disney-types can be made COC…I'm thinking a Mythos version of Beauty and the Beast, maybe using a ghoul or something…

German folktales are good to use for COC inspiration, I think. More generally, Norse mythology (I don't know if German legends are basically the same or not) are suitably gloomy.

And that's my two cents.

Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 18:10:27 -0500 (EST)
From: "Andrew D. Gable"

Mythos-like stories - man-shaped beings made out of fire, mysterious entities in lakes, even little grey men! And the list goes on…

Greys in folklore? Please, tell us more! What's the plot of this tale? And do the Greys have a name attached with them in the story? I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be very interested in seeing this, since the Tuchulcha Mythos utilizes at least some German elements. I'd be interested in hearing this and maybe throwing it into the story. I'm sure some others would be, too.

This reminds me of things like the Brocken Specter (Germany) and The Great Grey Man of Ben McDhui (Scotland). They seem more phantasmal, but who's to say they aren't outsized Greys?

Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 08:34:36 +0000
From: Phil Ward

Greys in folklore? Please, tell us more! What's the plot of this tale?

I remember watching a program on TV witch compared grey's with other legends of small grey things at the end of the bed. It might have been german mythology that had a witch or a breath-sucking demon which paralysed people, and then sucked the breath out of them while they slept. Other countires had a baba-yaga style figure which did the same.

This sounds supsiciously familar to grey's invading your house and entering your bedroom. Add on a (later imagined) surgical procedure, and you have a house-abduction scenario.

I believe they did tests on which ever part of the brain was in charge of vision, and found that 'abnormal activity' there during sleep…

Tot much information, but you could tie it in with theories that the grey's have been visiting us for a lot longer than you might think.

Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 09:58:44 +0000
From: Juergen Hubert

Thanks for this factoid…this'll probably play a part in the connections btwn. Elron/JWP/Crowley, the Tuchulcha Mythos, and the Karotechia I was searching for…any thoughts on your part how to connect this organization to the Karotechia?

Mostly by the fact that they both don't like the current German government…

Here's a Webpage on the Scientology vs. Germany issue (and Scientology in General):

The Bundesgrenzschutz, or BGS (lit. ("Federation Border Protection"). These guys were mainly responsible for protecting Germany's borders, but with the borders in Europe melting away they are now also looking into anti-terrorism and fighting against smuggling.

The Bundeskriminalamt, or BKA (lit. "Federal Criminal Office"). This is Germany's equivalent of the FBI - the federal police of Germany (Homepage: http://www.bka.de/ - again, it's in German). I've heard that, in the USA, criminals sometimes can't be followed if they flee across the border into another state of the USA, but the cooperation between the local police and the BKA is good enough that it's very hard to pull that trick off in Germany… Their homepage has _lots_ of information on them, but I don't feel like translating everything right now… ;-) But if you have specific questions…

In my searches on the web I've also found some other things of interest to this mailing list:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/5284/david.htm : This tells about an European underground army named, among other things, "Gladio", that was supposed to fight a takeover of Europe by the communists. According to this site, a lot of former Axis war criminals were taken in by this network. This could be _very_ useful to the Karotechia… (There's also some additional material on a German website; if anyone is interested, I could try to translate some of it…)

http://stauffenberg.dark-skies.com/index.html : This site is a fan site of the TV series "Dark Skies". But it also has some fan fiction that expands the "Dark Skies" story into Germany ("Operation Stuaffenberg"), and some ideas are salvageable for DG Keepers…

German folktales are good to use for COC inspiration, I think. More generally, Norse mythology (I don't know if German legends are basically the same or not) are suitably gloomy.

It's not really the great sagas and eddas that interest me - it's more like "Hans the farmer sees something that he can't comprehend". And there are _lots_ of these strange encounters…

Greys in folklore? Please, tell us more!

Unfortunately I'm studying in Scotland right now, and all my books on _German_ folklore are back in Germany (though I have bought some on Scottish and Celtic here…). But once I'm back in Germany in the middle of December, I will tell you more…

This reminds me of things like the Brocken Specter (Germany) and The Great Grey Man of Ben McDhui (Scotland). They seem more phantasmal, but who's to say they aren't outsized Greys?

Well, I think I will tell of _another_ tale I remember…

Once upon a time, an army made camp near a lake (the geographic location is pretty precise, but I can't remember it right now). Two soldiers from that army decided to catch some fish out of that lake and fry them. So they caught some trouts, but when they fried them, they became more and more lively in the frying pan! Suddenly, a great wind arose from the lake, _without_ disturbing the lake's surface in the slightest, or cause the trees to move, and they heard a loud voice in their head: "Not all are here! Not all are here!". They quickly threw the trouts back into the lake, which caused the wind to cease and everything became silent. They reported the incident to the army's leader, who cursed the area so that no human might live there, and the army immediately departed…

Thanks for this factoid…this'll probably play a part in the connections btwn. Elron/JWP/Crowley, the Tuchulcha Mythos, and the Karotechia I was searching for…any thoughts on your part how to connect this organization to the Karotechia?

I already replied to that in another posting, but this got me thinking: How to use Scientology in a Mythos scenario?

The process Hubbard developed that he would claim could produce physical healing is called auditing. This involves an "auditor" guiding a "preclear" through past incidents in the preclear's life and "running" the memory until it clears up within the preclear's mind. Auditing is done with an "e-meter", a crude galvanic skin response meter that supposedly helps find and "run" problematic memories.

Perhaps this is some way of collecting magic points? (What was the inspiration for the cult in the DG main book, anyway?)

The teachings of O.T. Level III reveal the bizarre story, dated 75 million years ago, of Xenu, a cosmic villain who solved galactic overpopulation by transporting trillions of individuals, lungs injected with an alcohol-glycol substance, to Earth where they were implanted with 36 days of imagery including God, the Devil, sexual perversion, and all manner of gruesome stuff reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange. (This, Hubbard pronounced, was the source of the reactive mind.) The victims were then deposited around the volcanos of Hawaii and the Canary Islands and blown to kingdom come. Once disembodied, the thetans were trapped by electronic ribbons, like high-tech fly paper, in Earth's atmosphere, and packaged into "clusters" of souls, unknowingly intertwined for the rest of eternity. None of this would have been a problem, wrote Hubbard, were it not for an insidious boobytrap built into the equation: if, during the normal course of auditing, one were to confront the incident before he was equipped to handle it, the 36-day implant would kick in and he would most likely die of pneumonia (due to the revivification of all that anti-freeze in the lungs). The allegory, though not his best science fiction yarn, was designed to bring one to the awareness that the entirety of the material universe consists of specialized colonies of life forms and that those forms are essentially thought packaged in the form of often-confused identities. When a Clear has unwanted mental image pictures he is identifying unknowingly with the tormented thoughts of some discarnate entity, a "body thetan," attached to him by Xenu's dastardly packaging operation.

Let's certainly not forget the foo fighters and assorted UFO-esque technological projects which the Nazis had going in WW2, many of which may have been adopted by the US in the scramble for technology and intelligence assets that followed the collapse of Nazi Germany. (The intriguing possibilities of Project PAPERCLIP have been commented on repeatedly on this list—check the Ice Cave and the Digests if you're curious.)

Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:44:51 -0500
From: Graeme Price

But what could a large, Majestetic-type conspiracy hide in Germany? UFOs fit much better in the USA, and Nazis would be such a cliche (and unrealistic as well)…

Anyway, what could Germany be hiding? Plans for total domination of Europe via the Eurobank and single currency, perhaps (yes, I voted Tory at the last election… does it show?).

Seriously now. The rise of the Green movement over the last few years (not just Germany, of course) could be a huge front for a Shub Niggurath cult. But on the other hand, does this fit with the opposition to genetic modification inherent in the Green movemnet (or maybe it does: genetic modification requires analysis of the existing genetic makeup of crops etc.

What is it that the cult doesn't want us to find out about?). Maybe Government departments (the Majestic counterpart) are trying to cover this up… or utilise it for their own purposes. Just think, lots of suitably deluded and well meaning green voters/cultists all thinking they are saving the planet (perhaps they are… but saving it for what?) - conspiratorial enough?

Then there is always the diety found in the small German town, that I can never remember the name of (Cyaegtha? something like that… the one pictured with the big eye in the CoC rulebook). What devious plans could this entity be hatching?

Anyway, just a few (rather obvious) thoughts.

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 09:06:23 +0000
From: Juergen Hubert

Anyway, what could Germany be hiding? Plans for total domination of Europe via the Eurobank and single currency, perhaps (yes, I voted Tory at the last election… does it show?).

Naah… To obvious. ;-)

Seriously now. The rise of the Green movement over the last few years (not just Germany, of course) could be a huge front for a Shub Niggurath cult.

A Shub-Niggurath Cult… Yes, that would be a possibility. Green issues _are_ rather popular in Germany (except where they would limit cars) - every party pays at least lib services to environmental issues…

And where could that cult be based? Well, the largest "wilderness area" (remember, Germany's population density is _far_ higher than that of the U.S.) would be the Black Forest, or Schwarzwald in the southwest. Perhaps I should get some information about that area when I get back to Germany…

A few other things to consider:

Berlin during the Cold War was pretty much the World Capital of espionage - the city was divided up in four sectors by the four victorious government. And Western Berlin also became a safe haven for hippies and other young men who wanted to dodge draft in Western Germany - so a Shub-Niggurath Cult there would certainly be a possibilty as well. And now that the Cold War is over and the German government is moving to Berlin, who knows what secrets might be hiding in the city's underbelly?

And an interesting phenomen for Germany in general: Until recently, and especially after WWII, we have had the phenomenon of "Landflucht": Lots of people, especially the young ones, fled from the countryside to the city in their search for jobs and a future. So now we've got lots and lots of remote (by German standards, that is) crumbling villages with a rapidly shrinking and aging population - sound like good adventure location, don't they?

Then there is always the diety found in the small German town, that I can never remember the name of (Cyaegtha? something like that… the one pictured with the big eye in the CoC rulebook). What devious plans could this entity be hatching?

Unfortunately, I have neither the rulebook with me at the moment, nor the relevant story…

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 11:03:23 +0100
From: Davide Mana

And an interesting phenomen for Germany in general: Until recently, and especially after WWII, we have had the phenomenon of "Landflucht": Lots of people, especially the young ones, fled from the countryside to the city in their search for jobs and a future.

A lot.

And the phenomenon is common to a lot of European countries, including Italy (where the thing is probably more dramatic than in Germany) and France. The average age in the country hereabouts is 60.

And deserted, unkept farmland can be damn creepy (take it from one that spent two years wondering just in such places) - roads that end up in woods or lead nowhere or simply are not there anymore ("Did we miss the junction?"), abandoned old stone farmhouses on overgrown hillsides, the rust-eated shell of an old tractor wrapped in vines, and the occasional wild-haired strange guy that looks at you from a hilltop and disappears when you wave. I loved fieldwork!

Sure you Germans have a neat name for it (we in Italy have only babble from politicians…)

Consulting a highly detailed population density map (but are there some around?) should give an enterprising keeper quite a few adventure ideas.

And that's it.

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 10:21:54 +0000
From: Juergen Hubert

Let's certainly not forget the foo fighters and assorted UFO-esque technological projects which the Nazis had going in WW2, many of which may have been adopted by the US in the scramble for technology and intelligence assets that followed the collapse of Nazi Germany.

Then there are probably lots of people in German agencies who could make some good guesses about what Majestetic is doing - since in the beginning there were many people who had been recruited from Third Reich agencies. Of course, this doesn't mean that the MAD is dealing with the Greys today, but they and Majestetic might spend a lot of time watching each other…

(The intriguing possibilities of Project PAPERCLIP have been commented on repeatedly on this list—check the Ice Cave and the Digests if you're curious.)

In what section of the Ice Cave is this?

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 07:19:22 -0600
From: Shane Ivey

The (fairly brief but still useful) discussion of Operation PAPERCLIP is under the "Historical Background Data" section of the Ice Cave.

Editor's Note: It's been updated recently….

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 09:40:22 -0500 (EST)
From: "Andrew D. Gable"

Then there is always the diety found in the small German town, that I can never remember the name of (Cyaegtha? something like that… the one pictured with the big eye in the CoC rulebook). What devious plans could this entity be hatching?

Cyaegha is featured in the story DARKNESS MY NAME IS. He's supposed to be confined under a town in western Germany called Freihausgarten. The details I know are gathered from the ENCYCLOPEDIA CTHULHIANA: I remember something about five statues in the village which are supposed to some kind of spirits or something, and also something about a servitor race called vaeyen (something like frogs, I think). Interestingly, Cyaegha's cult was devoted not to freeing him, but keeping him imprisoned…maybe he's more malicious even than most GOOs? And according to the rulebook, he's as tough as Cthulhu, so he's nothing to sneeze at…BTW, right there's one thing I never liked. Statistics for GOOs, OGs, etc…as if the average human could even conceivably defeat Yog-Sothoth in combat, anyhow.

Anyone ever read the Ramsey Campbell story (can't recall the name) where the narrator was pursued through the streets by some sort of creeping darkness that slowly ate up the town? That took place somewhere in Germany, methinks. Very atmospheric, that was.

And finally, another German (well, not really: Austrian, but Germanic, anyway) thing you can build some kind of cool story around: the "Iron Man of Klagenfurt." Regardless of what the name sounds like, it's simply a huge pillar of iron in the town of (surprise, surprise!) Klagenfurt, Austria. Imaginative people might be able to come up with something neat about that.

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 10:05:24 -0500
From: "Randall L. Orndorff"

German folktales are good to use for COC inspiration, I think. More generally, Norse mythology (I don't know if German legends are basically

There was a very good Robert E. Howard story about Odin. He was portrayed basically as a mythos god, and had to be put down in a tomb forever. If anyone touched him with mistletoe, however, he would jump right back up and start stalking the battlefields again. Kind of neat, if cheesey. Can't remember the name, though.

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 14:30:01 -0500 (EST)
From: The Man in Black

But what could a large, Majestetic-type conspiracy hide in Germany? UFOs fit much better in the USA, and Nazis would be such a cliche (and unrealistic as well)…

I concur. The Pure Espionage angle works much better for Germany. With the various conspiracies (GRU-SD8, DG, Majestic etc…) all vying against the mythos and each other. Imagine the fallout from Paperclip, The cold war, the end of the cold war, etc… and then throw in just a bare minimum paranormal bouquet.

Subtlety is the key here, Karotechia would have to work through it's puppets in the Fatherland even more than normal.

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 11:05:07
From: Davide Mana

This reminds me of things like the Brocken Specter (Germany) and The Great Grey Man of Ben McDhui (Scotland). They seem more phantasmal, but who's to say they aren't outsized Greys?

Want some more?

OK.

Go to the library.

Check a book called "Celtic Inheritance", by Peter Berresford Ellis, published by Constable, London 1985.

[nice book if you are into comparative religion or history, by the way]

Now check out page 118: picture of three _grays_ (no kidding: big oversize pear shaped head, big slanted eyes, no other facial features, small extremities) wearing early medieval capes and fibulae. Picture caption: "Detail of three clerics, from a 9th Century cross slab, Invergowrie, Angus, Scotland".

If anyone's interested I can scan the pic and either send it along or place it on my web site for perusal.

No, ok, I'll put it up anyway.

I'll let you know as soon as the page's ready.

Editor's note: a copy of the Image is currently available here

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 14:06:08 +0000
From: Juergen Hubert

Sure you Germans have a neat name for it (we in Italy have only babble from politicians…)

Hey, German is one of the easiest languages for inventing new words (a popular example: Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaenspatent)!

Consulting a highly detailed population density map (but are there some around?) should give an enterprising keeper quite a few adventure ideas.

Believe it or not, this seeming gibberish is a real word, albeit one that isn't used in everyday conversation (thank heavens for small favors!). If I remember, it means something along the lines of "the captain of a steamship on the Donau [River] who works for [xxx] company."

The USGS website (forget the exact URL, but there's a link to it on The CryptoWeb [hint, hint…go look at it!]) is great. It's only for the U.S., but it also has links to similar searches in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and probably Europe.